Be the Bull Dog, Part 1

I recently received what I perceive as a wonderful compliment, even if on the surface the comment could have been a little offensive.

As I was walking past a conference room, I overheard, "Well, there she is now." So I popped in to see who was talking about me.  One of the business analysts on my team, her project's PM and Business Solution Architect were working on a strategy to get their multi-million dollar project out of a requirements-and-lack-of-business-decision spin. Apparently, the conversation I missed went something like this:


"We need to get the requirements back on track so we can stay on schedule."
"But the business keeps changing their minds, or just avoiding the decisions."
"We need someone to step up and make decisions and stick to them."
"We need someone to take charge."
"We need a pit bull; someone who will kick us out of the spin and get us going again."
"We need Jen."
"Yeah. Jen. And with Jen, she's like a Pit Bull, but in a puppy dog costume."

My gut reaction was that these fine folks were calling me an ugly bully, or at minimum a bully. (Sorry to any pit bull lovers out there, I'm just not a fan.) And don't even start me on the puppy dog comment. 

I must've looked really confused, because the PM cleared a lot up very quickly: "You're always able to drive the group to make the decisions we need and get the job done. And you do it in such a nice, sweet way that no one really realizes what you're getting them to do."

Oh. Yeah.  That's kinda our jobs as BAs, right?  We're influencers. We're leaders.  When we successfully put our skills to work, we not only elicit, analyze and document requirements, but we also help the business to change in some way.  Maybe not exactly in the way they originally thought, but always in the way that is agreed upon as a 'best' direction for the effort.

I also realized that some of this "Pit Bull" metaphor comes from the need to be strong.  There are times in every BAs career where a stakeholder or a PM or a project team member will put up roadblocks, try to derail your meeting, or push their own agenda.  When that happens, you need to dig in and stand strong.  Again, no offense to Pit Bull lovers, but the image I see in my head here is of a bulldog- standing strong (possibly intimidating... no, not really). 

This got me to thinking - are there similarities between BAs and Bulldogs?  Yep. Look for Part 2 to learn more.

BAs are not Monkeys!

Back in the late 60's, scientists conducted an experiment on the social transmission of learned responses.

It started with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hung a banana on a string with a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey went to the stairs and climbed towards the banana. As soon as he touched the stairs, all of the other monkeys were sprayed with cold water. After a while, another monkey made an attempt with the same result; all the other monkeys were sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon all of the monkeys would try to prevent any monkey from approaching the stairs.

Next, the cold water was removed from the experiment. One monkey was taken from the cage and replaced with a new one. The new monkey saw the banana and wanted to climb the stairs. To his surprise, all of the other monkeys 'attack,' in an attempt to prevent him from reaching the stairs. After another try and attack, he knew that if he tried to climb the stairs, he would be prevented.

They tried this again, removing another of the original five monkeys replacing it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, scientists replaced a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.

Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the 'beating' of the newest monkey. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana.

Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how a company policy begins.


As BAs, our role isn’t just to document requirements, or take down the ‘business’s order.’ We help businesses change – to become better in some way. More efficient, more profitable, etc.

We GET to challenge everything, but many of us rarely do. This is more than just the “5 Whys” of digging to the root of the problem. Sadly, what’s the first question we still tend to ask? “What do you want us to build?”

This blog will discuss how you can be an 'Out of the Box' BA in more ways than one. I'll post on creative problem solving, tips and tools, hints, studies, and whatever else comes to mind. I hope you'll join me!